As famine tightens its grip on Gaza, just four bakeries remain operational across the entire Strip, according to the Bakery Owners Association. Once a vital lifeline, these bakeries now stand isolated in Deir al-Balah, overwhelmed and unable to meet the desperate needs of a starving population.

The head of the association, Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami, confirmed that Israeli forces are not only obstructing the delivery of flour but also targeting bakery zones by declaring them “red areas” and forcibly displacing the civilian population. In Khan Younis, once a bustling area, not a single bakery remains functional due to relentless shelling and mass displacement.

A brief attempt to reopen a bakery in Nuseirat Camp ended in chaos as thousands of starving people stormed the facility. With no safe way to operate, the bakery returned its supplies to the World Food Programme (WFP), highlighting the impossibility of serving people under siege without meaningful humanitarian access.

Northern Gaza tells a darker story. Nearly every bakery has either been destroyed or rendered unusable due to ongoing bombardment. From the 140 bakeries that existed before the war, only 50 remain. Of these, half are completely unreachable, their fate unknown since March.

The WFP has publicly stated that it is still awaiting permission from Israeli forces to distribute food directly to families. Currently, it can only work with a small number of bakeries to produce bread, leaving hundreds of thousands without reliable access to food. The UN agency has warned that the ban on direct distribution flagrantly violates humanitarian principles and endangers the lives of the most vulnerable — children, the elderly, and the sick.

In Gaza, bread has become a symbol of survival — and its absence, a mark of collective punishment. The continued restriction of flour, the targeting of infrastructure, and the refusal to permit food access are not just logistical challenges. They are the calculated mechanics of a blockade that is starving an entire population.